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UCL
and the University of Oxford have come together to form CASMI - the Centre for
the Advancement of Sustainable Medical Innovation.

Under the joint Chairmanship
of Sir John Tooke, UCL Vice Provost (Health), and Sir John Bell, Regius
Professor of Medicine at Oxford and led by founding Director, Dr Richard
Barker, CASMI seeks to address one of the most important societal problems of
the 21st century – turning investment in basic research into population health
gain.

An official launch event to mark this unique commitment by two
world-leading Universities was held at the Wellcome Trust on Wednesday 20th
March.

CASMI
is a virtual Centre, which brings together CASMI Fellows across the partner
Universities, from disciplinary areas including life and biomedical science,
ethics, laws, economics, statistics, politics, business studies, psychology,
sociology, behavioural science and more. This enables the Centre to bring a
uniquely holistic perspective on the core problem that CASMI will tackle -
turning bioscience breakthroughs into patient benefit. This challenge is also a
specific area of national priority, as addressed by the Government’s Strategy
for UK Life Sciences.

Drawing on the capacities of two world-class universities and our wider partnerships, CASMI offers the opportunity to rise to the challenge of reshaping the innovation pipeline for the benefit of both patients and the economy.

Sir John Tooke, UCL Vice-Provost (Health)

Dr
Richard Barker, CASMI Director said: “We will deliver a unique holistic
approach to tackling what’s known as the three main ‘gaps in translation’ – i)
breakthroughs in the lab not producing therapies for trial; ii) too many
products failing to overcome the hurdles of regulatory approval and
reimbursement; and iii) approved products not being used effectively to deliver
patient benefit. We will bring together the breadth of academic disciplines
across UCL, Oxford and beyond to develop ‘testable models’, such as the
Adaptive Licensing project already in train, supported by the Wellcome Trust.”

Professor
Sir John Tooke, CASMI Co-Chair and Vice-Provost (Health) at UCL, said: “Drawing
on the capacities of two world-class universities and our wider partnerships,
CASMI offers the opportunity to rise to the challenge of reshaping the
innovation pipeline for the benefit of both patients and the economy.”

"Improving the productivity of medical innovation
and the speed with which scientific advances are translated into new treatments
is critical for the future of UK life sciences,” said Sir John Bell, CASMI
Co-Chair, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford and Prime Ministerial Advisor
on Life Sciences. “It's our goal that CASMI plays a leading role in this
arena.”